1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resonance type power supply circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
The power supply circuit of current resonance type has been conventionally implemented as one of the power supply circuits used in electronic devices such as a TV set.
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing such a conventional current resonance type power supply circuit.
In the figure, an output terminal of an alternating current (AC) power supply 51 or a commercial AC power, for example, is connected to an input terminal of a rectifier circuit 52, or a full-wave rectifier using a diode bridge, for example. The other output terminal of the AC power supply 51 is connected to the other input terminal of the rectifier circuit 52.
The output terminal on the negative polarity side of the rectifier circuit 52 is connected to the reference potential point.
The output terminal on the positive polarity side of the rectifier circuit 52 is connected to the reference potential point via a smoothing capacitor C51 and also connected to the reference potential point via switching elements 61 and 62 connected in series. For the switching elements 61 and 62, a field effect transistor such as a MOSFET may be used. With such elements, the parasitic diode incorporated in the configuration of the field effect transistor can be used for inverse current flowing.
The source of the switching element 61 is connected to the drain of the switching element 61 via the anode-cathode channel of a parasitic diode D61. The source of the switching element 62 is connected to the drain of the switching element 62 via the anode-cathode channel of a parasitic diode D62.
The switching elements 61 and 62 are turned on and off by a drive circuit 63.
The connection point of the switching elements 61 and 62 is connected to the reference potential point via a voltage resonance capacitor C6V and at the same time connected to the reference potential point via a primary winding L61 of a switching transformer 64 and a current resonance capacitor C6I connected in series. Usually, the current resonance capacitor C6I has a larger capacity than the voltage resonance capacitor C6V. The secondary winding of the switching transformer 64 is connected to an output terminal 65 via the anode-cathode channel of a diode D63 at an end and connected to the output terminal 65 via the anode-cathode channel of a diode D64 at the other end. The cathodes of the diodes D63 and D64 are connected to the reference potential point via a smoothing capacitor C65. With such connections, the output voltage Eo is led to the output terminal 65.
The cathodes of the diodes D63 and D64 are connected to an input terminal 661 of an error amplifier circuit 66 via a resistor R61 and also connected to an output terminal 662 of the error amplifier circuit 66 via a resistor R62 and the anode-cathode channel of a light emitting diode D60 in a photo coupler PC6. The error amplification circuit has a negative polarity terminal 663 connected to the reference potential point.
On the other hand, a control circuit 67 has a detection terminal 671 connected to the reference potential point via a resistor R63 and a phototransistor Tr60 in the photo coupler PC6 connected in series and has an output terminal 672 connected to the drive circuit 63. The control circuit 67 prepares a control signal a1 at the output terminal 672 according to the current flowing from the detection terminal 671 to the resistor R63 and supplies such signal to the drive circuit 63. The drive circuit 63 supplies, corresponding to the control signal a1 from the control circuit 67, gate voltages VG11 and VG12 to turn on and off the switching elements 61 and 62 to the gates of the switching elements 61 and 62 respectively.
The error amplifier circuit 66 amplifies the error between the voltage applied to the input terminal 661 via the resistor R61 and the target voltage and, according to the amplified voltage, controls the current flowing through the light emitting diode D60. Thus, the resistors R61 and R62, the error amplifier circuit 66, the photo coupler PC6, the drive circuit 63 and the control circuit 67 control the operation frequency f of the switching elements 61 and 62 corresponding to the change in the output voltage on the secondary side of the transformer 64.
The operation in a conventional example is described below.
FIGS. 6(a) to (e) are timing charts showing the operation of a conventional current resonance type power supply circuit. FIG. 6(a) shows the gate voltage VG11 of the switching element 61 and FIG. 6(b) shows the gate voltage VG12 of the switching element 62. FIG. 6(c) shows the voltage VC6I applied to the capacitor C6I, FIG. 6(d) shows the current IC6I flowing through the capacitor C6I and FIG. 6(e) shows the voltage VL6I applied to the primary winding L61. In these figures, the interval from timing t10 to timing t16 constitutes one period.
FIGS. 7(a) to (c) and FIGS. 8(a) to (c) are explanatory views illustrating the operation of a conventional current resonance type power supply circuit. FIGS. 7(a) to (c) illustrate the first half (t10 to t13) of the period in FIGS. 6(a) to (e) and FIGS. 8(a) to (c) illustrate the latter half (t13 to t16) of the period in FIGS. 6(a) to (e). FIG. 7(a) shows the operation of timings from t10 to t11, FIG. 7(b) shows the operation of timings from t11 to t12 and FIG. 7(c) shows the operation of timings t12 to t13. FIG. 8(a) shows the operation of timings t13 to t14, FIG. 8(b) shows the operation of timings t14 to t15 and FIG. 8(c) shows the operation of timings t15 to t16.
First, the AC power voltage from the AC power supply 51 is rectified by the rectifier circuit 52, smoothed by the smoothing capacitor C51 and supplied as the direct current (DC) voltage Ei to the switching elements 61 and 62. In FIGS. 7 and 8, the AC power supply 51, the rectifier circuit 52 and the smoothing capacitor C51 are shown as a DC power supply 71 for output of the DC voltage Ei to simplify the description.
The drive circuit 63 supplied, corresponding to the control signal a1 from the control circuit 67, the gate voltages VG11 and VG12 as shown in FIGS. 6(a) and (b) to the gates of the switching elements 61 and 62.
In this case, the gate voltage VG11 shown in FIG. 6(a) is at the high level (H) to turn on the switching element 61 for the time T11 from t10 to t12 and is at the 0 level to turn off the switching element 61 from t12 to t16. On the other hand, the gate voltage VG12 in FIG. 6(b) is at the high (H) level to turn on the switching element 62 for the time T12 from t13 to t15 and is at the 0 level to turn off the switching element 62 from t10 to t13 and from t15 to t16. For the gate voltages VG11 and VG12, the time T10 from t10 to t16 is one period.
In the time from timing t10 to timing t11 as shown in FIG. 7(a), the diode D61 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the capacitor C6I to the winding L6I and then to the diode D61. The voltage VC61 applied to the capacitor C6I as shown in FIG. 6(c) goes down from 0V to the minimum level and the current IC61 flowing in the capacitor C6I as shown in FIG. 6(d) rises from the negative side to 0A level. The voltage VL61 applied to the primary winding L6I shown in FIG. 6(e) rises to the maximum level.
In the time from timing t11 to timing t12 as shown in FIG. 7(b), the switching element 61 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the switching element 61 to the winding L61 and then to the capacitor C6I. The voltage VC61 shown in FIG. 6(c) rises from the minimum level, passes 0V and enters the positive side. The current IC61 shown in FIG. 6(d) rises from 0A to the maximum level and then lowers. The voltage VL61 shown in FIG. 6(e) lowers from the maximum level. Note that, however, the current flowing from the switching element 61 to the capacitor C6V during this time is omitted in FIG. 7(b) since it is of a small amount.
The time TD11 (see FIG. 6(b)) from timing t12 to timing t13 as shown in FIG. 7(c) is a damper time. The current flows through the route from the capacitor C6V to the winding L61 and then to the capacitor C6I. The voltage VC6I shown in FIG. 6(c) rises in the positive side to reach Ei. The current IC61 shown in FIG. 6(d) lowers in the positive side and the voltage VL61 shown in FIG. 6(e) sharply lowers under the effect of resonance.
In the time from timing t13 to timing t14 as shown in FIG. 8(a), the diode D62 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the diode D62 to the winding L61 and then to the capacitor C6I. The voltage VC61 shown in FIG. 6(c) rises from Ei to the maximum level, the current IC6I shown in FIG. 6(d) lowers in the positive side to reach 0A, and the voltage VL61 shown in FIG. 6(e) lowers in the negative side to reach the minimum level.
In the time from timing t14 to timing t15 as shown in FIG. 8(b), the switching element 62 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the capacitor C6I to the winding L61 and then to the switching element 62. The voltage VC6I shown in FIG. 6(c) lowers from the maximum level in the positive side to a level in the negative side. The current IC6I shown in FIG. 6(d) lowers from 0A to the minimum level and then rises in the negative side. The voltage V161 shown in FIG. 6(e) rises from the minimum level in the negative side.
The time TD12 (see FIG. 6(b)) from timing t15 to timing t16 as shown in FIG. 8(c) is a damper time. The current flows through the route from the capacitor C6I to the winding L61 and then to the capacitor C6V. The voltage VC6I as shown in FIG. 6(c) lowers in the negative side to reach 0V and the current IC6I shown in FIG. 6(d) rises in the negative side. The voltage VL61 as shown in FIG. 6(e) sharply rises under the effect of resonance.
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the control characteristic of the operation frequency f at the current resonance type power supply circuit in FIG. 5. The output voltage Eo is indicated on the vertical axis and the operation frequency f is on the horizontal axis. As understood from the characteristics, the output voltage Eo becomes the maximum when the operation frequency f is close to the resonance point f01. The specified range higher than the resonance point f01 is the normal operation area. Therefore, the output voltage Eo can be kept stable by controlling the operation frequency f corresponding to the change in the output voltage Eo.
In FIG. 9, when the output voltage Eo declines, for example, the error amplifier circuit 66 detects the decline of the output voltage Eo in the range of the normal operation area. In such case, the photo coupler PC6 and the control circuit 67 control the drive circuit 63 to change the on/off status of the switching elements 61 and 62 so that the operation frequency f is reduced and the output voltage Eo is increased. Thus, the output voltage Eo is restored to the original level.
Suppose, in such a conventional resonance power supply circuit, the load connected to the output terminal 65 rapidly increases or the output of the AC power supply 51 sharply declines, and the output voltage Eo becomes lower than a predetermined level. In such case, the operation frequency f quickly lowers to compensate for such change and may become lower than the resonance frequency f01 for the primary winding L61 of the switching transformer 64 and the capacitor C6I (See FIG. 9). This is the "out-of-resonance" phenomenon. When the operation frequency thus becomes lower than the resonance frequency, the impedance of the resonance circuit consisting of the primary winding L61 and the capacitor C6I becomes negative (capacitive) [.omega.L-(1/.omega.C)&lt;0 where .omega. is the angular frequency, L is the inductance of the primary winding L61 and C is the capacity of the capacitor C6I]. This makes the phase of the resonance current for the gate voltage proceed by .pi. (radian) and the resonance current directions for the rising and breaking points of the gate voltages as shown in FIGS. 7(a) to (c) and FIGS. 8(a) to (c) are reversed (Reverse phase) as shown in FIGS. 11(a) to (c) and FIGS. 12(a) to (c).
Referring to FIGS. 10(a) to (c), FIGS. 11(a) to (c) and FIGS. 12(a) to (c), the out-of-resonance status is described below.
FIG. 10(a) to (c) show timing charts illustrating the operation waveform in the out-of-resonance status. FIG. 10(a) shows the gate voltage VG11 of the switching element 61, FIG. 10(b) shows the gate voltage VG12 of the switching element 62 and FIG. 10(c) shows the current IC61 flowing through the capacitor C6I.
When FIGS. 10(a) to (c) are compared with FIGS. 6(a) to (e), the times T21 and T22 in FIGS. 10(a) to (c) are longer than the times T11 and T12 in FIGS. 6(a) to (e). The former figures have a longer period T20 and a low operation frequency.
FIGS. 11(a) to (c) and FIG. 12(a) to (c) are explanatory views illustrating the current route in the out-of-resonance status. FIGS. 11(a) to (c) and FIGS. 12(a) to (c) show the operation in a period (T20) as shown in FIGS. 10(a) to (c). FIG. 11(a) shows the operation of timings from t20 to t21, FIG. 11(b) shows the operation of timings from t21 to t22 and FIG. 11(c) shows the operation of timings from t22 to t23. FIG. 12(a) shows the operation of timings from t23 to t24, FIG. 12(b) shows the operation of timings from t24 to t25 and FIG. 12(c) shows the operation of timings from t25 to t26.
The drive circuit 63 supplies, according to the control signal a1 from the control circuit 67, the gate voltages VG11 and VG12 as shown in FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b) to the gates of the switching elements 61 and 62.
In this case, the gate voltage VG11 as shown in FIG. 10(a) is at the high (H) level to turn on the switching element 61 for the time T21 from t20 to t21 and the time from t23 to t25. It is at the 0 level to turn off the switching element 61 for the times from t21 to t23 and from t25 to t26. On the other hand, the gate voltage VG12 as shown in FIG. 10(b) is at the high (H) level to turn on the switching element 62 for the time T22 from t21 to t23 and is at the 0 level to turn off the switching element 62 for the times from t20 to t21 and from t23 to t25. For the gate voltages VG11 and VG12, the interval T20 from t20 to t23 is one period.
In the time from timing t20 to timing t21 as shown in FIG. 11(a), the switching element 61 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the switching element 61 to the winding L61 and then to the capacitor C6I. The current IC6I flowing through the capacitor C6I shown in FIG. 10(c) rises from 0A to the maximum level and then goes down to 0A.
In the time from timing t21 to timing t22 shown in FIG. 11(b), the diode D61 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the capacitor C6I to the winding L61 and then to the diode D61. The current IC6I flowing at the capacitor C6I as shown in FIG. 10(c) declines from 0A to a level in the negative side.
In the time from timing t22 to timing t23 shown in FIG. 11(c), the switching element 62 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the capacitor C6I to the winding L61 and then to the switching element 62. The current IC6I flowing through the capacitor C6I as shown in FIG. 10(c) declines in the negative side, reaches the minimum level and then rises to 0A.
In the time from timing t23 to timing t24 shown in FIG. 12(a), the diode D62 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the diode D62 to the winding L61 and then to the capacitor C6I. The current IC6I flowing through the capacitor C6I shown in FIG. 10(c) rises from 0V to enter the positive side.
In the time from timing t24 to timing t25 as shown in FIG. 12(b), the switching element 61 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the switching element 61 to the winding L61 and then to the capacitor C6I. The current IC6I flowing through the capacitor C6I as shown in FIG. 10(c) rises in the positive side to reach the maximum level and then declines to 0A.
In the time from timing t25 to timing t26 shown in FIG. 12(c), the diode D61 is turned on and the current flows through the route from the capacitor C6I to the winding L61 and then to the diode D61. The current IC6I flowing through the capacitor C6I shown in FIG. 10(c) declines from 0A to a level in the negative side, reaches the minimum level and then rises.
In the normal status as shown in FIG. 6(a) to (e), FIG. 7 (a) to (c) and FIG. 8(a) to (c), the switching starts from the diode D61 and proceeds to the switching element 61, the diode D62, the switching element 62 and then to the diode D61. However, in the out-of-resonance status as shown in FIG. 10(a) to (c), FIG. 11(a) to (c) and FIG. 12(a) to (c), the connection is made first for the switching element 61, and then the diode D61, the switching element 62, the diode D62 and then the switching element 61. In the out-of-resonance status, if the reverse recovery current of the diode D61 (shown with a dashed line in FIG. 11(c)) is large at timing t22, a large amount of current flows through the diode D61 and the switching element 62. This current sometimes breaks the MOSFET of the switching element 62. Similarly, if the reverse recovery current of the diode D62 (shown with a dashed line in FIG. 12(b)) is large at timing t24, a large amount of current flows through the diode D62 and the switching element 61. This current sometimes breaks the MOSFET of the switching element 61.
With such a conventional power supply circuit of current resonance type, the operation frequency of the switching elements on the charge side and on the discharge side becomes lower than the resonance frequency upon a sharp decrease of the AC power voltage or a rapid increase of the load. This causes the out-of-resonance phenomenon resulting in a large amount of current flowing through the switching element, which often breaks the switching element.